Back at home base

Wow. I just spent four days in Napier - well, two full days and two travel days. Staying in the luxurious Studio Punga as a guest of the lovely Lisa and Steve Feyen, or the Pungas as they are known among friends.
The purpose of the weekend was to work on and maybe even finish a book I've been picking away at for a few years. And as Lisa is illustrating it, it was the perfect place to go and advance the project. We have - it's not done but it has some kind of shape and theme now.
No, don't ask about it, I don't want to let anything out of the bag until it is done!
While I was there, I discovered Aaron's Emporium. It is the best emporium I've ever been to and I wish I had lots of extra money cos I could have bought a LOT more than I did. But I was restrained. Here are some of the trims and laces I got:

The two top ones are velvet, about 5 inches wide, and embroidered and covered in sequins. $5m!!!!! Perfect for belly dancing costumes. the next one is a beautiful black lace with brown and red roses on it $3m, and the bottom two are cotton laces, 80c and $1m. amazing.

I also bought little filigree butterflies and mantissas, giant hooks and eyes, safety pins, other bits and bobs, and a new basket to replace the one I busted trying to carry too many veges home from market.

So all in all it was an incredibly productive weekend. :)